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Hoping my azaleas do well this year

March 16, 2008 by Tricia

Just four more days and Spring will be here! I think I’ve pretty much said that in all three of my GTS posts today. Can you tell I’m excited?

I’ll have to wait until sometime in May before my two small Northern Lights Azalea shrubs begin to bloom, but that too is well worth the wait. I only wish that they weren’t so stingy with their flowers.

Perhaps this year, thanks to an abundance of snow cover to protect the plants and hopefully give them a good dose of moisture when it begins to melt, my azalea’s will do better than ever. I sure hope so!

Do you grow Azaleas?

Remember it’s Easter this weekend. If you don’t grow your own flowers, why not buy someone for someone special?

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information. GTS participants remember to check in at As the Garden Grows each week so that we’ll know you made a new post!

Better insurance rates for good driving record?

March 16, 2008 by Tricia

We’ve been with the same home and car insurance company since before we purchased our house. Back then, when we lived in an apartment, we only used the company for auto insurance. I guess we should have had our belongings at the apartment insured, but we didn’t. Lucky for us nothing happened!

Chris and I both have good driving records. Neither of us have ever managed to get a speeding ticket or any other kind of ticket. Well, Chris has had a few parking tickets, but that’s about it. So we’ve got very good driving records. I think maybe it’s time to call up our insurance company or perhaps another one and see if we can get an auto insurance quote that would bring down our payments.

We actually have pretty good rates right now, but I think that we might get better ones if we try to re-negotiate.

What do you think our chances of success are?

I’ve been meaning to call our insurance company anyway. Our dog is still a puppy but she’s a large breed dog (Lab) and I’ve heard that some people get their home insurance rates lowered a bit after getting a large dog. I guess it’s seen as home security.

Flag and flowers

March 15, 2008 by Tricia

Grab the Photo Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Visit participants.

This weeks theme is I Spy

These lovely clematis grow at the front of my house, on the left hand corner if you’re facing the house, and the flowers wrap around the side of the house.

I didn’t realize when I took this photo that our Canadian flag would show up in the photo, nor would I ever have thought that it would make such a lovely background. I was quite pleased when I spied the flag in the photo.

Have you ever been concentrating on taking a photo of someone or something and then discovered that was was in the background was almost as interesting as the intended subject? I love it when that happens.

Lovely Nova Zembla Rhododendron

March 9, 2008 by Tricia

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Rhododendrons are one of the plants that I think of when I think of spring. The photo above is a picture of my one and only Rhododendron Nova Zembla. I took this photo last May when the buds were just about to bloom.

The flowers of Nova Zembla are a beautiful shade of red that contains a hint of purple. There’s a pattern on the delicate small flowers as well. This plant is just lovely when it’s branches are bursting with blooms.

I wish it’s blooming season was longer, but I’d say that I get close to a month of blooms out of my Rhododendron each season unless it becomes too hot too fast!

I’m fairly certain that my Rhodo will do well this year as it’s had a nice protective cover of snow over most of the winter.

I also have two Azalea trees. They’re still on the small side and don’t bloom anywhere near as profusely as the Rhododendron, but they too are quite lovely.

Do you grow Rhododendrons or Azaleas?

Now I’m off to Orovo to get some supplies. I need to build my muscles if I’m going to have to keep shoveling all this never ending snow!

I need another trip to Vegas

March 7, 2008 by Tricia

Lately I keep thinking about our trip to Las Vegas last November and how much I enjoyed the sites and sounds of Vegas. I’m starting to think about planning another trip. Soon.

Perhaps it’s all the bad weather we’ve had this winter and the snow that just keeps falling this week, but I really think I need a holiday. I think it’s time I took a look at some Las Vegas hotels and perhaps book a room for a weekend or even a week!

When I was in Vegas in the fall I wasn’t well at all. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be ok if I go again, but it would sure be nice to feel ok and have some fun there. I did have fun on my trip but it would have been a lot better if I’d been feeling great. My husband on the other hand had a great time! On our first night he had to have the security guards help him find our room! I’d stayed out with some friends in a restaurant for a while when he headed back to our room after having a little tooooo much to drink!

If I do go on a trip to Vegas in the near future I’ll certainly try to stay in a different hotel than we stayed in last November. I didn’t like that hotel at all. Anyone have any suggestions?